Defendant Howard Parker, a/k/a “Poppa”, age 25, of Columbia was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. (Source: Aiken County Detention Center)

Defendant Kerry Taylor, a/k/a “KJ”, age 23, of Columbia, was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. (Source: Georgetown County Detention Center)

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -

Nine sex traffickers have been sentenced to federal prison time in South Carolina, including four from Columbia.

The four from Columbia are convicted of forcing underage girls and young women into sex trafficking throughout the southeast. Authorities say the men preyed on more than 100 female victims, many of them minors from 2014 to 2016.

Defendants Bakari McMillan, a/k/a “Bizzle”, age 25, of Columbia, and Corey Miller, a/k/a “Clow”, a/k/a “C”, a/k/a “OG P”, age 44, of Orangeburg, were convicted at trial in March 2017.

McMillan was sentenced to 40 years for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and trafficking of a minor for sex involving force, fraud, and coercion. Miller was sentenced to 20 years for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and trafficking of a minor for sex involving force, fraud, and coercion.

The following defendants pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking:

Defendant Tremel Black, a/k/a “Sincere”, a/k/a “New York”, age 33, of New York, was sentenced to 25 years.

Defendant Robert Black, a/k/a “Kareem Banks”, a/k/a “Nino Black”, a/k/a “Black”, age 47, of New York, was sentenced to 20 years.

Defendant Desmond Singletary, a/k/a “Six”, age 32, of Florence, was sentenced to 15 years.

Defendant Kerry Taylor, a/k/a “KJ”, age 23, of Columbia, was sentenced to 11 years.

Defendant Ryan Turner, a/k/a “Gotti”, a/k/a “Qweezy”, age 25, of Columbia, was sentenced to 10 years.

Defendant Da’Shun Curry, a/k/a “Dae Dae”, age 25, of Columbia, was sentenced to 9 years.

Defendant Howard Parker, a/k/a “Poppa”, age 25, of Columbia, was sentenced to 6 years.

Defendant Damon Jackson (aka “D”, aka “Daddy Frost”), who was also convicted at trial, has yet to be sentenced.

Evidence in the case established that the defendants preyed on over 100 vulnerable female victims, many minors, forcing them on a regular basis to have sex with numerous “Johns” a night from 2014 through the summer of 2016.

The defendants used brutal tactics, including physical beatings, brandings, supplying and withholding of drugs, threats, and various other forms of psychological manipulation in order to ensure their victims complied with a series of rules that were imposed upon them.

As part of their sentences, all of the defendants were given lifetime supervision, mandatory registration as a sex offender, and participation in a computer/internet monitoring program, amongst other conditions imposed on convicted sex offenders.

“Over the past several years, we have seen gangs and what were formerly exclusively drug conspiracies expand into human trafficking to fund their organizations," Drake said. "We have the legal tools to take the organizations apart, and need the public’s help. If you see something, say something. The Polaris Hotline, 1-888-3737-888, is available 24 hours a day to receive tips.”

“Human trafficking is a heinous crime, akin to modern-day slavery,” said acting Atlanta HSI Special Agent in Charge Gregory L. Wiest. “These significant sentencings should serve as a grave warning that HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners, like the North Charleston Police Department, will use our full investigative resources to holding criminals accountable.”

A prayer service was held to begin the healing process for people in Union County. The people of Union County are still dealing with loss, but today was about healing. Community members gathered outside the Union County Court House in Morganfield this afternoon for a prayer service.

A prayer service was held to begin the healing process for people in Union County. The people of Union County are still dealing with loss, but today was about healing. Community members gathered outside the Union County Court House in Morganfield this afternoon for a prayer service.

Authorities say a missing Pennsylvania teenager and a 45-year-old man who frequently signed her out of school without her parents' permission have been located in Mexico, and the man has been arrested.

Authorities say a missing Pennsylvania teenager and a 45-year-old man who frequently signed her out of school without her parents' permission have been located in Mexico, and the man has been arrested.

(AP Photo/Jennifer Kay). Six crosses are placed at a makeshift memorial on the Florida International University campus in Miami on Saturday, March 17, 2018, near the scene of a pedestrian bridge collapse that killed at least six people on March 15.

A matter of seconds between those who would live and those who would die as Florida pedestrian bridge topples down highway bustling with passing vehicles.

(Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP). FBI agents work the scene of an explosion in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 18, 2018. At least a few people were injured in another explosion in Texas' capital late Sunday, after three package bombs detonat...

Officials reported that an explosion in southwest Austin injured two men in their 20s who were hospitalized with injuries that didn't appear to be life-threatening.

(Joe Ahlquist/The Rochester Post-Bulletin via AP). Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a fatal stabbing Saturday, March 17, 2018, at the Salvation Army Castleview Residence in downtown Rochester, Minn. Police have arrested a man in the multiple...

Police have arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of two men at a Salvation Army apartment building in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.

Conway parents were arrested for unlawful neglect of a child after their baby was allegedly thrown from his car seat, according to a police report from Horry County Police. 20-year-old Juliana Biggerstaff and 22-year-old Jacob Lowman were arrested on Thursday after a complainant called police. Officers responded to a residence on Woodwinds Drive in Conway on March 14. Upon arrival, officers located a baby boy with a “visible injury to the top of his h...

Conway parents were arrested for unlawful neglect of a child after their baby was allegedly thrown from his car seat, according to a police report from Horry County Police. 20-year-old Juliana Biggerstaff and 22-year-old Jacob Lowman were arrested on Thursday after a complainant called police. Officers responded to a residence on Woodwinds Drive in Conway on March 14. Upon arrival, officers located a baby boy with a “visible injury to the top of his h...